25 facts people mix up on the citizenship test

Many wrong answers on the citizenship test do not come from facts people never learned. They come from two facts that look alike: two titles, two dates, two cities, or two men with the same last name. This guide collects 25 of these pairs from Discover Canada, each with the mix-up and a short way to tell them apart. For a full timeline, see our key dates guide. For the people behind the names, see who’s who.

Government titles

From the chapter on how Canadians govern themselves.

1. Governor General vs Lieutenant Governor vs Commissioner

The mix-up: All three “represent” someone.

How to tell them apart: The Governor General represents the King for all of Canada. A Lieutenant Governor represents the King in one province. Each territory has a Commissioner, who represents the federal government. So there are 10 Lieutenant Governors, not 13.

2. Prime Minister vs Premier

The mix-up: Both sound like “the head of the government”.

How to tell them apart: The Prime Minister leads the federal government. A Premier leads a province. If the question says “province” or “provincial”, think Premier.

3. Head of state vs head of government

The mix-up: Many people think the Governor General or the Prime Minister is the head of state.

How to tell them apart: The King is head of state; the Prime Minister is head of government. The Governor General is neither, but represents the King and acts for him, for example by giving Royal Assent to federal bills.

4. Five years, age 75, four years

The mix-up: Three numbers that belong to three different things.

How to tell them apart: A Governor General usually serves about five years. Senators may serve until age 75. Federal elections are normally held every four years.

Parliament and elections

See also the chapter on federal elections.

5. Senate vs House of Commons

The mix-up: Both are part of Parliament, so people assume both are elected.

How to tell them apart: MPs in the House of Commons are elected in each riding. Senators are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In a federal election, you vote only for an MP.

6. The three parts of Parliament

The mix-up: The Prime Minister, the Cabinet or the Supreme Court often appear as wrong options.

How to tell them apart: Parliament has exactly three parts: the Sovereign, the Senate and the House of Commons.

7. Majority vs minority government vs Official Opposition

The mix-up: People think a minority government is the side that lost.

How to tell them apart: The party with the most seats usually forms the government. With at least half of the seats in the House of Commons, it is a majority government; with fewer than half, a minority government. The Official Opposition is the largest party that is not in government.

8. Election day, and who can vote

The mix-up: Some people know the American custom of a Tuesday in November, or think permanent residents can vote.

How to tell them apart: Fixed-date federal elections are on the third Monday in October, four years after the last one, unless an earlier election is called. Only Canadian citizens aged 18 or older can vote.

9. Who chooses the Prime Minister?

The mix-up: Many people think Canadians vote directly for the Prime Minister.

How to tell them apart: You vote for an MP in your riding. After the election, the Governor General usually invites the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons to form the government.

Laws and dates

From the chapter on Canada’s history.

10. 1867 vs 1982

The mix-up: People think the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was part of Confederation.

How to tell them apart: 1867: Confederation and the British North America Act (today the Constitution Act, 1867), which created the Dominion of Canada. 1982: the Constitution Act, 1982, which added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There was no Charter in 1867.

11. Constitutional Act (1791) vs Constitution Act (1982)

The mix-up: The names are almost the same.

How to tell them apart: The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the colony into Upper and Lower Canada. The Constitution Act, 1982 contains the Charter. Tip: the old-fashioned name, “Constitutional”, goes with the old date.

12. 1791 vs 1840 vs 1867

The mix-up: Three steps in Canada’s story, often put in the wrong order.

How to tell them apart: 1791: the colony is split into Upper and Lower Canada. 1840: the Act of Union joins them as the Province of Canada. 1867: Confederation creates the Dominion of Canada. Remember: split, join, new country. The name “Canada” became official in 1791, not 1840.

13. 1759 vs 1763 vs 1774

The mix-up: Three dates close together.

How to tell them apart: 1759: the British win the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. 1763: the Royal Proclamation, the first guarantee of Aboriginal territorial rights. 1774: the Quebec Act, which allowed religious freedom for Catholics and kept French civil law and British criminal law.

14. 1965 vs 1980, and the two anthems

The mix-up: The flag and the anthem are both national symbols, so their dates get swapped.

How to tell them apart: The maple leaf flag was first raised in 1965. O Canada became the national anthem in 1980 (it was first sung in 1880). God Save the King is the royal anthem, not the national anthem.

Geography

From the chapter on Canada’s regions.

15. Upper Canada vs Lower Canada

The mix-up: People expect “upper” to mean north.

How to tell them apart: Upper Canada became Ontario (mostly English-speaking and Protestant). Lower Canada became Quebec (mostly French-speaking and Catholic). “Upper” means farther up the St. Lawrence River, toward the Great Lakes.

16. A capital city vs the biggest city

The mix-up: people choose the most famous city in the province.

How to tell them apart: when you see the word “capital”, check this table.

17. St. John’s vs Saint John

The mix-up: The names sound almost the same.

How to tell them apart: St. John’s is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador. Saint John is a port city in New Brunswick, whose capital is Fredericton.

18. The three northern capitals

The mix-up: Three unusual names for three territories.

How to tell them apart: Yukon: Whitehorse. Northwest Territories: Yellowknife. Nunavut: Iqaluit. Careful: Yellowknife and Yukon both start with “Y”, but they do not go together.

19. Which region? Which province is bilingual?

The mix-up: Some provinces get put in the wrong region, and many people guess Quebec is officially bilingual.

How to tell them apart: Quebec and Ontario are Central Canada. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are the Prairie provinces. The only officially bilingual province is New Brunswick; Quebec’s official language is French.

People

20. Jacques Cartier vs Sir George-Étienne Cartier

The mix-up: Same last name, about 300 years apart.

How to tell them apart: Jacques Cartier was an explorer for the King of France. He made three voyages between 1534 and 1542 and was the first European to explore the St. Lawrence River. Sir George-Étienne Cartier was a Father of Confederation from Quebec in the 1800s and Sir John A. Macdonald’s close partner. Exploring means Jacques; Confederation means George-Étienne.

21. Macdonald vs Laurier, and other “firsts”

The mix-up: Famous names get credit for things they did not do.

How to tell them apart: Sir John A. Macdonald was the first Prime Minister. Sir Wilfrid Laurier was the first French-Canadian Prime Minister after Confederation. Queen Victoria, not Macdonald, chose Ottawa as the capital in 1857. Sir Leonard Tilley suggested the name “Dominion of Canada”.

Symbols

From the chapter on Canadian symbols.

22. Hockey vs lacrosse

The mix-up: Canada has two national sports, and people swap the seasons.

How to tell them apart: Hockey, played on ice, is the national winter sport. Lacrosse, first played by Aboriginal peoples, is the national summer sport. Soccer has the most registered players, but it is not a national sport.

23. The maple leaf vs the beaver

The mix-up: Both are famous symbols, so people mix up where each one appears.

How to tell them apart: The maple leaf is the best-known Canadian symbol and is on the flag. The beaver was a symbol of the Hudson’s Bay Company centuries ago, from the fur trade, and is on the five-cent coin.

24. The motto vs other famous phrases

The mix-up: Short phrases from different documents.

How to tell them apart: The motto on the Coat of Arms is A mari usque ad mare, Latin for “from sea to sea”. “Peace, order and good government” comes from the British North America Act of 1867. The Charter begins with “the supremacy of God and the rule of law”.

Police

25. The RCMP vs provincial police

The mix-up: People think every province has its own police force.

How to tell them apart: Only Ontario and Quebec have their own provincial police. In the other provinces and in the territories, the RCMP is the provincial or territorial police. The RCMP also enforces federal laws everywhere in Canada, including Ontario and Quebec. More in the chapter on the justice system.

Do not try to learn all 25 pairs in one evening. Read one theme a day, then practise and watch the options: a wrong option is often the “twin” of the right answer. Add every pair you miss to your own mistakes list, and start with practice test 1.